Friday, 9 January 2015

The "Path” Monte di Monticchio - Recommone

I
read with interest Giovanni Visetti's latest Blog post, where he writes about the state of the
trail from Torca to Recommone and Marina del Cantone, (part of the Via del
Monti Lattari, CAI 300), and specifically the last stretch after the
pinewood of Monte Monticchio (segments 2 & 3 of map) leading you down to the beach of Recommone.I walked this trail a couple of months ago, and it is not the
easiest trail at the best of times once you leave the path above Crapolla at Guardia. Rough
underfoot and narrow, it is also very easy to miss a couple of crucial turns up
to the right, especially when there is a lot of vegetation hiding the signs.

The track becomes even narrower as you cross the
gully after Cuparo and there are several tricky points where the drop is
considerable, be it hidden by the bushes. And all this before you even get to
the very last stretch, which is the main subject of Giovanni’s blog. It is definitely not a hike for the faint-hearted. It is also the hike that compared to other more popular routes creates the highest incidence of calls to the emergency services, with hikers getting lost or hurting themselves along the way.

For several years
Giovanni has been suggesting that unless you really need to get to
Recommone and Marina del Cantone, you might as well avoid having to negotiate the last steep
and fairly treacherous stretch by leaving the official trail and going towards Spina and Caprile. There is a much easier
and more distinctive path (1 on the map), that was cleared and made accessible just a couple of years ago. This takes you up to a very minor road and from there you have a choice of whether to proceed to Nerano and Recommone, or go straight to Termini and on to Punta Campanella or Monte San Costanzo, or simply go directly to Sant'Agata. This is what I would normally do. On this
occasion, however, we were on a recky, destination Recommone. I had already ruled out any
attempt at descending the final stretch of the Cai track. This we had done in
the opposite direction (ie uphill) some months previously and it was not a
happy experience. Even the “goats” amongst us were in difficulty thanks to
collapsed dry-stone walls and thick vegetation, with brambles and bindweed all
too ready to scratch you and trip you up. In descent it would be far, far
worse, even perilous, since the loose stones along the track add to the difficulty, making it slippery.

I confess that we took the easy option of the steps down to the restaurant
in Recommone rather than risking our necks and our legs in the final descent of
the CAI trail. This is a much better way down provided the restaurant is actually open and will let you through..

To quote Giovanni, “The question is: in the “path’s” present condition, is
it worth going down to Recommone if you have to continually watch where you are
putting your feet and can’t even enjoy the view? "

Worth it or not, I would suspect that a combination of ignorant bliss and the thought of a refreshing swim at the end of the hike lures most people on, also because, and I will now continue to quote Giovanni as best as I can:

"it has to be said
that this stretch has been part of the Alta Via dei Monti Lattari
for at least thirty years or more, that
it figures in the official CAI map and in many others (mine included),
as well as being described in dozens of guides, both on line and not.” In other words, this is the official route and this is what people will go by.So basically
rather than abandoning it, Giovanni states: “something needs to be done about it. Although
far fewer walkers hike this trail compared to many of the other paths of the Monti
Lattari, the number of emergency calls from lost
or injured hikers is much higher here than for any other trail. Accidents can happen
even to the most experienced hikers, but seeing that many people don’t bother
with a map, don’t know the path or even the area, are dressed unsuitably and
have little hiking experience, they should at least be warned about what they
are walking into. Why not put warning signs at the main starting points such as Torca and Guardia to
the east and Cantone and Recommone to
the west? At the very least it would be opportune to refresh the signs along
the trail and check them annually. It would also be beneficial to improve the
surface a little…Alternatively (and more drastically), CAI could decide to
change the route, removing the stretch from the pinewood to Recommone.

If none of
this is done, no one should be surprised if the calls to the emergency services
continue.”

About Me

British born and bred, I have been living in Italy permanently since 1976. After spending 7 years in Naples, I ended up in Nerano, a tiny village near the tip of the Sorrento peninsula on the Amalfi Coast side.

Once the children were sufficiently independent, I began hiking again - evidently the Saturdays spent with my family walking the Yorkshire moors had left their mark. Now I try not to miss a weekend and the locals are well used to seeing this eccentric old Brit set off armed with rucksack, walking pole and ever present camera doing the unthinkable - walking..

A love for this area, its magnificent views and amazing flora have made me want to share my experiences with others. So having already created a web site, a Facebook page, all that was missing was this Blog. Hopefully you will enjoy it.